Conservative Group Faults Evers on Public Records

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - A conservative law firm alleges that Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' administration has taken a step backward in open record compliance.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty report released Monday faults Evers for slow response times, disorganization and a lack of transparency.

Bill Lueders, head of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, says he hopes Evers will take the report "as a prod to do better."

But Evers' spokeswoman Melissa Baldauff refutes many of the report's key findings, saying the group that issued the report is "lurching towards desperation with this one."

The report says Evers has backtracked on a pair of executive orders issued by former Gov. Scott Walker that established best practices for responding to open records requests. Baldauff says Evers is following the law, not executive orders by prior governors.